Tight squeeze for 3x3 teams

It’ll be a tight squeeze for the Gilas men’s and women’s U23 3x3 teams with back-to-back schedules for the FIBA World Cup in Wuhan and the Asian Games in Nagoya. Different players are expected to be sent for both competitions as the timing is too close for comfort if the same squads see action.

The FIBA World Cup U23 3x3 joust for men and women is scheduled on Sept. 15-19 while the Asian Games in this event is set on Sept. 20-25. SBP 3x3 director Ryan Gregorio said it’s premature to discuss possible players for the tournaments at the moment. “I need to strategize as both are important,” he said. “We have a very good problem. We’re qualified in both tournaments for men. For the women, we still need to qualify for the World Cup.”

Gregorio said because of the tight schedule, two separate men’s teams will be entered for the World Cup and Asian Games. The women are vying for a slot in the World Cup through the Nations League on Aug. 16-24 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. In the players pool are Kacey de la Rosa, Kristine Cayabyab, Cheska Apag, Cielo Pagdulagan, Elaine Etang and Jam Meniano. As for the Asian Games lineup, women’s 3x3 coach Anton Altamirano said it’s still being finalized. It will depend on whether or not the Gilas women qualify for the World Cup. “Most probably by the end of the month as we still have tournaments before the Asian Games,” he said. “We sent a long list of players before (to the Asian Games organizers) and mostly, if not all, are from UAAP schools.” From the long list of entries by name, SBP will choose whom to send to the Asian Games.

For the men’s World Cup roster, the players who earned a qualifying berth through the Nations League Asia 2 U21 Conference are the top choices to represent. They are San Beda’s Jhuniel de la Rama, UST’s Koji Buenaflor, Adamson’s Earl Medina and FEU’s Cabs Cabonillas and Jedric Daa. For the Asian Games cast, the team that’s playing in the coming Nations League in Petaling Jaya will likely go to Nagoya. Assured of slots are La Salle’s Luis Pablo and Doy Dungo. In the pool are UP’s Paolo Galotero, Jose Rizal’s Rhyle Melencio, CSB’s Wello Lingolingo and Ateneo’s Shawn Tuano.

The men’s groups in the Asian Games are Mongolia, Philippines, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka in A, China, Iran, Malaysia and Hong Kong in B, Qatar, Indonesia, Chinese-Taipei and Bahrain in C and Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand in D. The women’s groups are China, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Sri Lanka in A, Japan, Chinese-Taipei, Iran and Uzbekistan in B, Mongolia, Philippines, Malaysia and Macau in C and Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea in D. No schedule of games has been released although it’s confirmed that the event will run from Sept. 20 to 25.